Can you do the World Cup in FIFA 22 Career Mode?

As a lifelong soccer gaming fanatic, I‘ve been getting a flood of questions from readers about whether it‘s possible to play the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar within FIFA 22‘s Career Mode. As we gear up for the greatest show on Earth in real life, many understandably want to replicate the experience virtually by leading their nation to glory.

So let‘s settle this debate once and for all – can you actually play the World Cup tournament in FIFA 22 Career Mode?

No Official Tournament, But Workarounds Exist

The short answer is no. Unlike FIFA 23, FIFA 22 does not feature an official, licensed World Cup mode with all 32 qualified national teams that follows the authentic tournament format.

However, in previous FIFA titles like FIFA 14 and FIFA 18, savvy gamers used custom tournaments and a healthy imagination to essentially "create" their own World Cup. By manually selecting national teams and tweaking tournament rules, you could mimic the group stage and knockout rounds. Was it perfect? No. But it allowed you to feel like you were competing in the World Cup within Career Mode.

Unfortunately, even this workaround is no longer feasible in FIFA 22. Let‘s investigate why.

Missing National Teams Holding Us Back

The key limitation is FIFA 22‘s lack of complete national team rosters. Shockingly, 14 of the 32 teams that qualified for the 2022 World Cup in real life are not playable in FIFA 22! These include meta teams like Poland, Serbia, and Canada.

Without the rights to these national teams and authentic kits, it‘s simply not viable to recreate the World Cup draw and tournament structure. We‘re left to either omit over a third of World Cup teams or replace them with incorrect stand-ins from other confederations. Neither of which makes for an enjoyable, realistic experience.

International Management Still Possible

Now for some positive news! While you can‘t play the World Cup tournament itself in FIFA 22 Career Mode, you can still manage an international team through the standard national team management feature.

As you progress in your club management career, job offers may arrive asking you to lead countries like Brazil, France, or Spain on a part-time basis. If you accept, you take over that nation‘s roster and can play scheduled friendlies and tournaments like the UEFA Nations Leagues.

Through strong match performance and achievement unlocks, you can even work towards earning a call-up for that nation‘s World Cup squad in FIFA 23 once it releases. This allows you to experience the World Cup atmosphere without managing the entire tournament draw.

However, competing in 2022 World Cup qualifiers is still out of the question. Just like the main event, qualifying matches require full authentic rosters for all confederations – and FIFA 22 only has UEFA and CONCACAF done accurately.

New Features Making FIFA 23‘s World Cup Shine

As a longtime FIFA gamer, I‘m incredibly hyped for FIFA 23 and the debut of immersive World Cup modes for both men‘s and women‘s tournaments. Based on early testing and reports, EA Sports has implemented several key improvements:

• Fully authentic team kits, badges, trophies, match balls, stadium dressings, ceremonies like trophy lifts and fireworks, and more capturing World Cup atmosphere
• Dynamic commentary referring to the tournament event and context around matches
• Upgraded visuals like crowd, grass, weather, and lighting effects making stadiums feel alive
• Career Mode Integration: Option to fast-forward calendar and jump directly into ongoing World Cup event

The sheer level of customization shows they want this to feel like the definitive virtual World Cup experience. While FIFA 22 players sadly miss out, it‘s still worth looking ahead to the improvements coming in FIFA 23 this November.

The Verdict: Our World Cup Dreams Denied

So where does this leave us? Despite glimmers of hope with national team management and the upcoming FIFA 23 tournament mode, FIFA 22 Career Mode unfortunately remains a World Cup-free zone.

Without those 14 absent qualifying countries, we simply can‘t faithfully replicate the full World Cup draw from the Group Stage through Finals. And I expect most gamers, like myself, demand that level of comprehensive authenticity when playing virtual soccer‘s crown jewel event.

For now, we‘ll need to settle for club glory while crossing fingers that one day FIFA 24 or beyond may allow us to fully realize our fantasies of World Cup greatness in Career Mode! But I welcome the conversation in comments from fellow gamers – do you agree the World Cup omission badly hurts FIFA 22? Or is the focus on club football enough for you? Let me know!